April 23, 2025

Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Condemn Trump and Hegseth’s Trans Military Service Ban

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined colleagues in condemning President Trump’s un-American and unconstitutional transgender military service ban, calling it a blatant violation of our brave servicemembers’ civil rights and a threat to national security.

The lawmakers demanded answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on whether the Administration is complying with the nationwide injunctions that halted the unconstitutional ban, and asked the Administration to disclose whether any trans servicemembers have been wrongfully dismissed as a result of Trump’s executive order, despite the courts’ injunctions.

“This policy insults the service of brave Americans who believe that all people, regardless of differences, are equal and have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Merkley, Wyden and the other lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary Hegseth. “As the Joint Force faces a recruiting crisis amid a staggering attrition rate for new troops (nearly a quarter of Army recruits have failed to complete their initial contracts since 2022), our Nation cannot afford to expel several thousand troops serving honorably on a baseless, hateful whim.”

The lawmakers criticized Trump’s trans military service ban for not only being discriminatory and based on false pretenses, but also for hurting our military readiness and exacerbating the ongoing military recruiting crisis in service of continuing hateful attacks against transgender Americans.

“The United States military became the greatest fighting force in the world by pioneering the integration of diverse groups,” the lawmakers continued. “We have triumphed over our enemies because military effectiveness and lethality are strengthened by a broad range of skills, experiences, and backgrounds. Naysayers who have derided the U.S. military as lacking the discipline, intelligence, and ability to achieve unit cohesion among Americans of different classes, races, ethnicities, religions, and yes, genders, have been proven wrong again and again.”

In addition to Merkley and Wyden, the letter was led by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and co-signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

The full text of the letter is available here.